Season 11 of the new series of Doctor Who was a watershed moment for the show. Along with a new Doctor we got new companions and a new theme tune. Having your own version of the theme is a rite of passage for each new Doctor and with a new theme comes a new composer.

Chris Chibnall chose Segun Akinola, who had been named as a Brit Breakthrough by BAFTA in 2017, to give the show its own aural individuality. Akinola is a British composer who has worked in both film and television. His Nigerian lineage gives him the unique sound which he brought to the show.

Silva Screen have released Akinola’s music for the show with forty-one tracks covering most of the first year. As one might imagine, in a show which handles both small emotional moments and bombastic action, the music is diverse by its nature.

Akinola has used a variety of music forms, mixing found sounds, electronic and orchestral influences to create a very diverse soundscape. The tracks are of variable length, some less than sixty seconds long, others cover several minutes.

Without the dialogue and sundry sounds getting in the way you can really appreciate both the subtleties and grandeur of the score, its certainly a score which deserves to be played loud, preferably with headphones to better pick up the various nuances contained within.

The new score is a departure, with a much more experimental feel, it may not be everybody’s cup of tea, after all we are creatures of habit and change often brings anxiety, but whatever your take on the new show, one of its highlights undoubtedly will be the score.

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Charles Packer